Matthew 21:1-17 - Jesus' March to Calvary - Palm Sunday - April 5, 2020

“In like a lion, out like a lamb.” You’ve probably heard that old proverb used to describe the typical nature of the weather during the month of March. March is said to come in like a lion – like a wintry beast; and exits like a lamb – a mild, docile creature. (Surprisingly, it’s happened again this year. It appears that the month of March didn’t get the memo that the climate was supposed to be changing.) But I digress. We’re not here to discuss the weather or even to dwell on how much different this March was than any other we’ve ever experienced. We’re here to talk about Jesus. To follow him to Calvary. And as Jesus completes his “march” toward his final destination, he does the opposite of the calendar month, he comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion.

Jesus’ march to Calvary didn’t begin on the day we’re celebrating today, Palm Sunday. It began 30 or so years earlier, in the little town of Bethlehem. And in Bethlehem, it’s pretty clear that Jesus came to this earth like a lamb. Where was he born? In a stable, where animals, like lambs, live. What was his first crib? A manger (Luke 2:7) that animals, like lambs, eat out of. Who was his birth announced to? To shepherds staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock at night (Luke 2:8). And what happened shortly after King Herod caught wind of the birth of this King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2) and schemed to assassinate him? Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled to Egypt – like frightened lambs (Matthew 3:14). But easily the clearest proof that Jesus came in like a lamb is that the moment he began his ministry, John the Baptist pointed at him and said Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

And yet, while Jesus began his march to Calvary like a lamb, he goes out like a lion. And that’s fitting, because lions have almost always been associated with kings. Rather pompous kings have worn lion skins to massage their egos. 1 Kings describes King Solomon’s very lion themed throne: there were six steps to the throne. The throne had a rounded back and armrests on either side of the seat. Two lions were standing beside the armrests. Twelve lions were standing on the steps, one on each end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any kingdom (1 Kings 10:18-20). Kings and lions go hand in hand.

Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday like a king, like a lion, in a way that he never had before. He enters with a roar. Large crowds gather to welcome him into the capital city, shouting hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! (By calling Jesus the Son of David, the people were recognizing him as not only the heir of David’s throne but also as the promised Messiah (2 Samuel 7:12-14).) A very large crowd spread their outer clothing on the road – the precursor of today’s royal red carpet. (This is how King Jehu was honored as king in 2 Kings 9:13). John reports that the people cut palm branches to welcome Jesus (John 12:13). Palm branches were the “stars and stripes” of Israel; they were waving their national “flags” as they welcomed their lion king.

In marked contrast to how Jesus had behaved previously in his ministry, frequently trying to avoid crowds (John 6:15), walking through and away from them (Luke 4:30), telling the beneficiaries of his healing touch that they shouldn’t tell anyone about him (Mark 7:36) – today, on Palm Sunday, Jesus walks right into the adoring crowds and accepts their praise. When the chief priests and experts in the law try to make him quiet down the crowds, Jesus responds with the roar of Scripture have you never read, from the lips of children and nursing babies you have prepared praise? In the past I’ve commented that a donkey was not an appropriate mode of transportation for a king. That a white stallion or a gleaming chariot would have been more appropriate. I’ve had to rethink that assertion. First, as we heard that’s how the prophet Zechariah predicted that Israel’s true King would enter into Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9). In other words, God himself predicted that the Son of God would enter Jerusalem on a donkey – and it doesn’t get more “kingly” than having the endorsement of God himself. Second, when King David wanted to announce that Solomon, not Adonijah, was to be the next king, he indicated this by seating him on his own donkey (1 Kings 1:33).

Jesus may have come into this world like a lamb, but he’s going out like a lion. With absolute and fearless authority, Jesus cleans out the Temple; he acts like he owns the place. He even calls it my house (Isaiah 56:7). We might wonder why Jesus – who knew that he would be hanging on a cross in just six days – would waste his time cleaning out the temple courts. The temple courts had become the marketplace, the economic engine of Jerusalem. And what happens almost any time money is changing hands? Fraud and corruption. But even worse, those who ran the Temple had rejected Jesus as Savior and King – so that the Temple of God had really become a haven of unbelief. So, to put Jesus’ actions in today’s terms, he was “draining the swamp.”

But he went even further than that. What did Jesus do after he had cleared the money changers out of [his] house? He took it over: the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. Unlike Matthew’s reports of Jesus’ other miracles, he doesn’t include any details here. He doesn’t mention how the people he healed responded. He doesn’t tell us how the formerly blind immediately campaigned for Jesus or how the lame leaped up and ran around. Probably because the point is not just that Jesus had healed people, but that as the rightful owner of the Temple he had the right to clean it out and to make it once again into a place for worship and healing rather than a den of robbers. And even children recognize it (Matthew 21:15-16). 

Jesus may have started his march to Calvary with a lamb-like whimper, but he is finishing with a roar. But do you know what the irony is? It’s probably because he entered Jerusalem like a lion that he was killed. We’re in a presidential election year. Does anyone care about the candidates who have dropped out of the race? Do you see any ads on TV or run in the papers smearing those people? No. Why not? Because lambs aren’t dangerous. Lambs don’t require any attention. But lions. Those who threaten your position and your power, they not only earn smear campaigns, in the case of Jesus – it earned him a death sentence.

Jesus’ enemies wanted him dead. But they didn’t want to do it during the Passover festival – because they didn’t risk a riot among the hundreds and thousands of pilgrims who had gathered there (Matthew 26:5). Why were they so afraid of a riot? Probably not because they feared for their own personal safety – for, as we witness in the Garden of Gethsemane – they had their own private army to protect them (Matthew 26:47). No, they were afraid that the Romans would see a riot as proof that they had lost control and use it as a reason to remove them from their positions of power. But Jesus messed up their plans. By his lion-like behavior on Palm Sunday, he forced their hand. They had to act now, lest Jesus leverage his popularity to usurp their positions of power and authority among the people.

And who do you think orchestrated that timing? Not the chief priests but God. Only God could be creative and powerful enough to schedule the sacrifice of the Lamb of God at the very same time the people of Israel were busy sacrificing thousands of lambs in remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt. I think the whole idea of a feast dedicated to the shedding of the blood of lambs is a little disconcerting, perhaps even repulsive for many people today. Don’t you think that some of the Israelites may have questioned the necessity of killing a lamb and painting its blood on their doorposts – after God had already demonstrated his ultimate power over their Egyptian captors in the first 9 plagues (Exodus 12)? What was the point of all that “senseless” bloodshed? It was another example of the “foolishness” of God that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 1. God was far less interested in the physical act of sacrifice and the painting of lamb’s blood on doorposts than he was in the reaction of the people’s hearts to his Word. He was teaching them that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22) and without faith in blood there is no salvation (Romans 3:25). In other words, the sacrifice of lambs was an exercise of faith. After all, if you didn’t believe that God was going to send his angel of death over Egypt (Exodus 12:23) or that the blood of a lamb painted on your doorposts could save you, why would you bother?

The question for us today is: do you believe the Lord’s warning that when he comes again he will come in judgment and that all who are found guilty will be condemned to eternal death in hell? Do you believe that the blood of the Lamb of God which was painted on a cruel wooden cross on Calvary is truly powerful enough to wash away your sins, wipe away your guilt, and save you from certain death on the day of Judgment? If you believe that – if you believe both God’s warning and promise, both the Law and the Gospel – then the exercise of that faith is not the slaughtering of a lamb but to live in these days of uncertainty confessing and believing that the one thing you need the most right now is not a return to normalcy, is not for your kids to go back to school or you to go back to work, is not a check from the treasury, is not even a cure for the virus. If you believe that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world then you believe that the one thing you need most in this world is his blood. Because his blood is the only thing which can shield you from God’s wrath – whether that comes through death by coronavirus or in the last, great day of Judgment.

Where do you get this blood? You received this blood, the blood of Jesus when it was poured over your head in the sacrament of Holy Baptism (Romans 6:3; Colossians 2:12-13). The blood of Jesus flows through your ears and into your heart whenever you hear the absolution. And, when we are once again able to safely and legally meet together, you will receive that blood with your own lips in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

There’s a lot of uncertainty in our world, our nation, our state, our church and even our homes today. No one seems to know what tomorrow will bring and if or when life will ever return to normal. But by sending his own Son into the world to take on the burden of our sin and guilt and pay for it with his blood – you can be sure of this: your sins are forgiven, your guilt is washed away, and when the Lord returns on Judgment Day – he will pass right over you, leaving you unharmed. Jesus began his march to Calvary like a lamb so that you could be sure that he didn’t come to punish you but to save you. He came into Jerusalem like a lion, cleaning out and taking control of his house, forcing his enemies to put their plan into action on his schedule – all of which proves that he is in control, he is the true King of Israel, the Lion of Judah (Genesis 49:9). God sacrificed him on the cross during the festival of the Passover so that you could be sure that his blood will shelter you from His wrath on the Day of Judgment. And in just 7 days we will once again shout those wonderful words: “He is risen! He is risen indeed!” (albeit probably at our TV’s or computers) to celebrate the fact that while Jesus may have silently walked like a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7), but like a ferocious lion he has broken out of death’s prison and lives and reigns over this world for your good. The Lamb who died is the Lion who lives and reigns now and forever – even in today’s uncertain world. All hail King Jesus! Amen.